10 hot South Korean fashion brands and where to buy them

By Violet Kim, for CNN

Updated 10:41 PM ET, Wed July 17, 2013

10 hot South Korean fashion brands 16 photos

10 hottest South Korean fashion brands – South Korea's latest fast fashion brand 8seconds is Samsung's answer to Uniqlo and Zara. Its latest ad campaign stars Sohee of the Wonder Girls, one of the most fashionable young stars in the country.

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10 hot South Korean fashion brands 16 photos

8seconds – The brand has foreign shoppers in mind -- the "8" in the name is meant to appeal to the Chinese consumer. Eight is a favored number in Chinese culture.

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10 hot South Korean fashion brands 16 photos

8seconds – The 8seconds flagship store launched in Garosugil last year to massive fanfare. Lines formed around the block.

Style Nanda – Style Nanda began as an Internet store selling secondhand clothes and has evolved into a full-blown brand, with its own makeup line, accessories, shoes and even framed in-house art prints.

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10 hot South Korean fashion brands 16 photos

Style Nanda – Style Nanda manages to take the most demure of pieces and add nylon, pleather or a daring cut to create a look both glamorous and irresistibly trashy.

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10 hot South Korean fashion brands 16 photos

The Studio K – There's a mathematical beauty to the clean angles and graceful lines of every garment at The Studio K.

Launched in February in 2012 by Samsung subsidiary Cheil Industries as a domestic competitor to foreign fashion brands such as UNIQLO, 8seconds' heavy marketing paid off with ₩60 billion ($54 million) in sales in 2012.

The brand's goal for 2013 is ₩150 billion ($134 million) in sales. It hopes to bring its success abroad with international stores open by 2014.

The name is supposed to signify the length of time that we perceive as the "now," according to the brand's somewhat convoluted mission statement.

With colorful and creative displays, the stores are some of the most fun to visit in Korea.

Lucky Chouette is the sister brand of Jardin de Chouette, which means "garden of owls."

Lucky Chouette is the variegated, street-inspired and accessible line by Kim Jae-hyun, who was chosen to be part of Seoul's 10 Soul -- a fashion project launched by the Seoul government to promote upcoming Korean designers.

"Kim Jae-hyun is already a familiar figure in the fashion world through her Jardin de Chouette line," says Yang, adding that Kim's atelier is always crowded with Korean celebrities.

This menswear label is the creation of designer Ko Tae yong, who created costumes for the hit Korean wave drama "Boys Over Flowers."

Launched in 2008, the brand stocks classic and collegiate baseball jackets, sports jackets and button-downs in vibrant and boyish blues, reds and yellows.

While the look won't exactly fly at a job interview, it's great for sartorially conscious men in their twenties and thirties whose masculinity isn't derailed by a healthy dose of cute in their wardrobes.

The brand's runway wear is available for purchase on their website or at the showroom.

Multi-brand shop A Land also stocks the line in its various locations (Myeongdong, Sinsa-dong, COEX, Gangnam, Hongdae and the Mokdong Hyundai Department Store).

The brand has an online shop, and its Hannamdong flagship store Mo Jain Song, which opened this year, is quickly becoming a popular hangout for the city's young and stylish with its pretty outdoor cafe and carefully cultivated rooftop garden.

The flagship store stocks a variety of curated lifestyle items along with the fashion line.

"This nine-year brand is climbing the fashion ranks at a dangerous speed and pretty much leading Hallyu (Korean Wave) fashion," says Yang.

Style Nanda began as an Internet site selling secondhand clothes from founder Kim So-hee.

Now it has an enormous three-story flagship store in Hongdae (as well as a Lotte YoungPlaza location) and is the second most sought after Korean brand by Chinese tourists in Korea, according to Lotte Department Store.